Just the Girl
by Shadowed Replica
Summary: Warrens powers run amuck and a girl with a dark past and a shaky future enters his life. He must fight to protect her for she is his only chance. But can he get over the aggrivation she causes him and see past her strong facade to see how frightened she i
1. Chapter 1

**Just the Girl**

Chapter I: Just Got Here

_By: Shadowed Replica_

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Sky High or any of it's original characters. So me no own, you no sue! (Piper is mine though!)_

* * *

**Full Summary:** Warren has been having some trouble with his powers lately, they're out of control and now even he can feel their burn. She was being followed by the adversary of her heritage since birth; never a moment of peace. They'd both been attracted to dangerous, forbidden things. Perhaps that is why they were drawn to each other. He was her salvation and only light within the darkness; even if she refused to accept it. She was his only chance to find love and hope for some normality; thought he'd never admit it.

* * *

Regular Narration

"Speech."

'Thought.'

_Dream/Song_ (You'll know the difference)

**Flashback**

**_Change in time, etc._**

(Interruption)

* * *

To start off at the beginning would take a very, very long time. So maybe the best place to start off would be now. Many people in this world have unique talents that they are born with or aquire by some freak accident or occurence in nature that no average person does. These people, whether they are male or female doesn't matter, are what one might call special, or freak, or perhaps mutant; the preferred term is Super. But we are here to talk about one story of supers in particular. It may be hard to understand, but as the reader you aren't required to know the full story at the beginning. You'll know at the end so please be patient as I reinerate this story of love, betrayl, and adventure to you, the reader.

_"Get her!" A man draped in black attire yelled as he bolted after a flash of platinum blonde hair. The weapon he carried only weighed him down but he needed it to take her down should he catch up with her.._

_A young woman clad in a black turtleneck shirt and black form-fitting pants with bright platinum blonde hair raced away from the men as fast as she could. Something struck the ground beside her forcing her to jump out of the way. She reappeared a few feet ahead of the men chasing her. She knew they were getting tired as she was herself. Her own breath came in harsh pants as she struggled to keep her distance. Something sliced through her side and sparks of electricity attacked her briefly. She ripped the claw out and threw it aside ignoring the searing pain that ripped through her side as well as the blood that spattered the ground._

_"She's getting away!" Another voice cried. "Shoot her, shoot her!" A chorus of voices echoed behind her as she darted over a cement wall toward the ocean. She was so close now! She had to be careful on the rocky shoreline so she wouldn't step wrong and twist an ankle and let themc capture her; again. Just as she was nearing the edge something struck her hard in the back and she fell face first over the rocky edge and plunged towards a horrible death. She didn't scream as she fell; instead she opened her arms wide and allowed her body to descend into the darkness and vanished from sight._

_Several men stopped atop the rocky chasm and panted heavily. One man alone stood straight and pulled out a cell phone. His fingers floated over the keys and typed in the number one speed dial. It rang once before a cold, cruel, and deadly voice answered the line calmly, "Report."_

_"She got away sir." The man replied. "I don't think that a few thousand volts harms her like the others though. Perhaps we should up the voltage." He murmured into the phone._

_"Incompetents," The voice growled scathingly before the line went dead._

A young woman with platinum blonde hair stretched lightly in her bed and kicked the covers off of her as she did so. A small yawn showed pearly white teeth surrounded by plump pink lips. Two green eyes opened wearily as she gazed at the rising sun and stretched again. Her tanned skin contrasted sharply with her hair and eyes. She groaned and stood up before quickly dressing and pulling a brush through her straight, long, mid-back length hair.

Half an hour later she was ready to go and left the house in a hurry so she wouldn't have to talk to anyone or answer any questions about her first day at the new school. She looked at the little piece of paper she held clasped in her hand and followed the directions easily. She found her way to the street and leaned against a telephone pole that stood at the corner. She heard the tell-tale sounds of a bus approaching and leaned down to grab her bag which wasn't there. She looked around frantically before slapping a hand over her face. She thought about home and then turned around to see her bag lying in the middle of the hallway in her house. She rolled her eyes as her hand snatched the bag from the floor and she turned around to see the back end of the bus as it drove away. "Wait!" She shouted suddenly as she took off after the bus. The bus kept driving and she saw the inside of the bus before she was inside of the bus. She staggered slightly and ignored the gasps of surprise around her as she chose a seat that was already half occupied-seeing as all others were occupied as well.

Her gaze drifted lazily over her seat companion. She could tell he was tall from the way his legs bunched at the edge of the seat. He wore a black leather jacket even though it was hot out and dark jeans that had holes in them. His long dark brown hair hung loosely about his shoulders with a single red highlight streaked down the left side. He was quite tanned and she could feel heat radiating from his body even from the distance between them. Suddenly his head turned towards her and he raised a well sculpted eyebrow at her. Her insides felt like they would melt into a puddle of goo at the smirk that crossed his handsome face; until he opened his mouth anyway. "See something you like?"

Her lip curled up at him and she rolled her eyes, "I don't know, I'm still trying to discern what I'm looking at." She sneered before sitting back and crossing her arms over her chest and closing her eyes. She could feel his eyes on her and resisted the urge to smirk and give him a scathing remark. She felt his eyes roam over her body startin gat her white and blue Nike shocks up her light blue jean-clad legs, past her hips, and over the bit of skin that showed her belly from where her gray soccer shirt had ridden up. She felt his eyes continue up over her small waist and over her small chest and finally rest on her face. She felt heat rushing to her face but didn't move for fear of losing what little dignity she had after he caught her oogling him. A small chuckle shredded that little bit she had left and she snapped her eyes open to glare at him. But, alas, his gorgeous chocolate brown eyes were back to staring at the pages of his book he'd been reading.

She closed her eyes once more and sat stock still as she let her mind empty itself completely and she called forth a great calm to overcome her nerves and irritation. She had been so engrossed in her meditation that when the bus landed with an almighty shake she very nearly jumped out of her seat in alarm. She looked around and then turned back to the guy from earlier when she heard him chuckle. She flipped him the bird and appeared on the outside of the bus. With a smirk to the guy she appeared on the top of the steps and smashed right into a door that opened at the last second. She fell backwards and landed on the cement in a heap. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" A feminine voice cried. "Are you all right? I didn't see you there!" The voice said.

Platinum blonde obscurred her vision slightly as she looked up at the medium-height, auburn haired, brown-eyed girl wearing far too much green for her taste. She saw the hand outstretched to help her up and vanished from the ground. She appeared inside and brushed herself off before pulling out her phone and sliding it open; she recieved a text message. _No funny business today. Be normal for once._ "Che, normal my ass." She hissed as she replied with a 'whatever' when the phone was suddenly snatched out of her hands. Her head snapped up and her angry glare fell on an older woman with dark brown hair and kind yet stern eyes. She held the phone in her hand, "The no cell phone rule applies in this high school as well Miss Wells." The older woman said softly before pressing the phone back into her hand. "Come with me."

She is lead into an office of sorts and sits down in a chair mentally preparing herself for the speech that comes with every new school, every time she is forced to run for her life. At age 17, she has moved more than thirty times in the past ten years. She is used to being alone, running away, fighting for her life, doing anything to get by, using her mind and body to ignore the pain and helplessness that threatens to overwhelm her at times. She watched the woman suspiciously as she sat perfectly still while giving a contemptuous glare to her. "As you may know now, I am Principle Powers. I have been well informed of your situation Miss Wells and I-"

"Piper."

"I beg your pardon?"

"My name is Piper not Miss Wells." Piper growled lowly.

Powers nodded at her and continued to speak. "Now, Piper, you have been given an apartment to live in and there is a job opening at the Paper Lanturn that has been aquired for you. Rent will be payed for as well as school tuition. The money you earn at the Paper Lanturn will be for any needs such as food, clothing, and essentials. You know the procedure and the dangers. Just please be careful and know that if you have any problem at any time, I am here to help." Powers handed Piper a few papers. The first included all her classes and transcripts as well as a paper with a few numbers on it. "My number along with Josie and Steve Stronghold's numbers are there for your disposal. If you ever get into any trouble please call us right away and we'll be there to help. The staff has been informed of your situation and will try to help you keep a low profile. I encourage you to make friends here Piper, it would be for the best." Powers seemed to be finished for the moment before adding, "Oh, the senior class president is waiting outside of the office to show you around. You've been placed with the senior class and will not need to show off your powers to everyone. Please, have fun and enjoy your classes."

Piper scoffed at Powers and chuckled, "What no threats?"

"Threats...?"

"You know, 'listen here freak, if you cause so much as an ounce of trouble you'll be sorry,' or 'I know what you are mutant, you're not normal and you don't need to be infecting anyone here. Just keep your unnaturalness to yourself got it?' You know, stuff like that?" She said idly.

A grim smile lit Powers' face and she folded her hands together, "I see that the normal world has taken its toll on you. But rest assured Miss Wells, Piper, that we are all freaks here and are quite content to be 'freaks' with our friends. So I'm sure that you'll fit in quite easily." She said softly before gesturing to the door, "Now, I have a lot of work to do and you don't want to be late. Ms. Williams will take you to your classes." She ushered Piper out the door and closed it.

With a quick roll of her eyes, Piper scanned the surrounding area and almost shrieked when someone tapped her on her shoulder. "Hi there, I don't believe we got to introduce ourselves, I'm Layla Williams." The green girl from earlier held out her hand which Piper took awkwardly. "Now," Layla grabbed the schedule and smiled, "Oh! Let's get going. Mad Science with Mr. Medula it is!" She said happily before tugging Piper along by the arm.

By the time they reached the class Piper had the feeling this girl was going to be a pest the entire time she was here. She was tugged into the middle of a class and sighed as everything went silent. Mr. Medulla had a large head that contained a brain, obviously, meaning he was probably a smartass. "Ah, how nice of you to join us Ms. Wells. You may sit in the back since that is the only seat left. Please do try to pay attention as I won't repeat anything that is said." Oh yeah, definately a smart ass; they were going to get along great this year!

"Bye, see you after class!" Layla whispered as she waved goodbye. Piper swiftly made her way to the back and all but threw her stuff on the table and sat down. Some kids had already turned their attention back to Medula and were hastily scratching their pens on paper, taking notes no doubt. She sighed and put her head down on the table and let her eyes close sleepily. She was out instantly and slept through the whole of class and only woke to the sound of the bell and shuffling chairs. She stood up and copied the work assignment before looking at her lab partner; Warren Peace. She shrugged and hoped that his name wasn't decieving; she couldn't handle anyone not peacable. She managed to dodge Layla all day until it came to lunch and the girl mysteriously appeared behind her and hooked arms with her. "There you are Piper! I looked all over for you after each class!"

"Heh heh, yeah, about that I-" Piper started to say.

"Oh don't worry, I'm used to it by now. But you've got to eat lunch with us okay?" She asked as she tugged Piper along with her into the lunch line. Piper sighed futilely and grabbed a hero sandwhich and some chocolate milk. She was then tugged to the line to pay for her food when she realized she didn't have any money yet. She turned to put her food back when Layla handed over a couple bills. When Piper opened her mouth to protest, "Don't worry, as your new friend I'd love to help you out. Besides, you can always pay me back some other time." She said with a wink before pulling Piper to a table filled with people; perfect!

"Hey guys," Layla said cheerily as she sat down and tugged Piper down beside her. "This is Piper Wells. Piper, this is Zack," Starting at the far end of the table, a boy with unusually blonde hair smiled and wrapped his arm around a girl with purple streaked hair and had the whole punk-rock kid thing going on, "And this is Magenta." She then pointed to a nerdy-looking black kid with glasses, "This is Ethan." She then pointed to the sandy haired guy sitting next to her with his arm draped casually over her shoulder, "This is my boyfriend Will." She gave him a happy smile and kissed him quickly on the lips before turning to Piper once more. Piper was now sitting cross-legged in the seat and had one hand propped underneath her chin as she looked to all the people. "And last, but not least," Piper's gaze rested on the guy from the bus ride earlier and she fought to keep her mouth from dropping open, "This is Warren." This was the guy sitting there reading his book and ignoring her completely.

Her eye twitched slightly as she glared at him. The others had already turned back to what they were doing and she finally decided he'd been glared at enough and picked up her sandwhich and bit into it. She felt someone staring at her and her gaze snapped up to see chocolate brown eyes staring at her intensely. Piper's eye twitched once again and she slowly chewed her bite before swallowing and addressing him, "Do you have a problem or are you just dumb?"

His eyes widened and then narrowed at her and he growled at her darkly. She raised a delicate eyebrow at him and smirked before taking another bite of her sandwhich. "Do you have a death wish?" The small, nerdy boy, Ethan, whispered in fear which caused Piper to roll her eyes and Warren to smirk evilly.

Piper snorted and took another bite of her sandwhich, "I don't fear death," She chewed and swallowed before letting her eyes stare at her food, "I certainly don't fear some pathetic, bad-ass wannabe." Her eyes snapped up to stare into Warren's glare.

Heat blossomed around the two and one could cut the tension with a knife. "I think you both just need to cool down a little." Will said suddenly as he leaned over Layla and looked between the two of them.

Another twitch occured in Piper's eye as she stood and walked over to the garbage can to dump the last half of her sandwhich. She stopped just as she was throwing her chocolate milk away as Warren's silkly voice slid over her ears, "That's right, walk away and you won't get hurt." She plastered a forced smile on her face and turned on her heel as she opened the carton of milk and walked beside Warren; all eyes were on her and the cafeteria was deathly quiet.

"I think Will was right," She said as she put a hand to her hip and held the carton up. The questioningly look on Warren and Will's faces made her smile evilly, "You need to cool off, so why don't I help you?" She said sweetly before dumping the milk over Warren's head and turning on her heel once more. She tossed the carton over her head making it right into the garbage can as she walked past. A satisfied, triumphant smirk settled over her features until a searing pain shot through her shoulder and she was sent sprawling on the ground with a yelp of pain as she crashed into another person.

"What do you think you're doing Warren?" Will shouted as he vaulted over the table and forced Warren back. "Are you crazy? You could have fried her!"

Layla was at Piper's side in an instant but she pushed her away and stood angrily ignoring the stabbing pain shooting through her body. She appeared beside Warren and kicked him back; just barely missing Will's face as she pushed him out of the way. She appeared beside Warren again but he tugged her foot out from underneath her before she could do anything and she fell into a table, hitting her head off the seat. Stars swam before her eyes as her head then connected with the floor and she groaned in pain. She saw his foot coming down at her and rolled out of the way. She didn't stop rolling because she didn't want to be fried by the continuous onslaught of fireballs raining down in the exact spot she had been a moment ago.

"Warren, Piper, stop!" Layla yelled as she watched Piper hit a pole, stopping her roll. Another fireball struck her in the arm before she vanished and Warren went flying. Piper stood behind him with her foot raised before she charged after him and appeared behind him as he staggered and kicked his legs out from under him so that he fell to the floor with a thump. With a simple flick of her wrists his side suddenly exploded and blood poured over the ground and soaked Piper's light blue jeans and white shoes with crimson.

She gave him a cruel smirk, "Blood for blood, your debt is paid." She sneered before turning and walking straight into Principle Powers. With a sigh Piper crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"I see you're already making friends Ms. Wells." Her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Mr. Peace, last year it was Mr. Stronghold, will it take a whole year before you make nice with her?" She questioned before sighing and gesturing for both of them to follow her. When Warren stood up he brought his fist back and Piper prepared another attack when Powers' voice interrupted them, "Don't even think about it you two." Piper turned her nose up at him and followed after Powers with her head held high trying to keep what little dignity she had left. She felt a twinge of pain in her heart as she passed by Layla and saw how distraught she was. Then, the pain came shooting back with a vengeance but she ignored it even as the blood began to soak her shirt in the back and she clutched her arm to stop the crimson blood from spilling all over the floor. Warren had his hands clamped to his side and he was wincing in pain as he applied pressure to the wound.

The first stop was the nurse's office to bandage both combatants up and then they were off to the principle's office. They sat next to each other and glared daggers into the other's eyes. Only when Principle Powers slammed her fists onto her desk did the two look to her angry face. "You are seniors and look at you two!" They didn't dare look away from her, "You're acting like toddlers fighting over a toy. It's sad really and I won't have you bloodying up the school because you two can't get along. So I'm suspending you both for one week starting right now!"

Piper's mouth dropped open, "But I just got here, you-"

"Be quiet Ms. Wells, go home and get some rest and think about what you're going to do from now on to control that temper of yours. Mr. Peace, you're mother is under enough strain as it is, please, please, try to cool yourself down next time you get angry instead of spouting fireballs everywhere and endangering other students." She took a deep breath and rounded once more on Piper, "Don't you dare attack another student like that ever again! I don't care if he started it or you did. Save it for Save the Citizen!" She growled before dismissing them out of the office and to the bus that would take them home.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Just the Girl**

Chapter II: Possession 

_By: Shadowed Replica_

* * *

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Sky High or any of it's original characters. So me no own, you no sue! (Piper Wells is mine though!)_

**Full Summary:** Warren has been having some trouble with his powers lately, they're out of control and now even he can feel their burn. She was being followed by the adversary of her heritage since birth; never a moment of peace. They'd both been attracted to dangerous, forbidden things. Perhaps that is why they were drawn to each other. He was her salvation and only light within the darkness; even if she refused to accept it. She was his only chance to find love and hope for some normality; though he'd never admit it.

* * *

Regular Narration

"Speech."

'Thought.'

_Dream/Song_ (You'll know the difference)

**Flashback**

_**Change in time, etc.**_

(Interruption)

* * *

'I hate him!' Piper snarled mentally as she stomped her way up to her new apartment. She pulled out a solitary key and unlocked the door. With a sigh she stepped into the wide hall and closed the door behind her and dropping her small duffel bag at her feet. It was nicely furnished and everything looked neat and tidy. She gave a small smile as she thought of the people who'd let her stay the weekend with them. They were nice enough, though they did seem a bit frightened of her.

She yawned slightly, suddenly tired, and trudged over to a white recliner couch and fell on it face first. She sighed with joy as her face connected with the soft, plush material and her eyes snapped shut as her body began to relax until she was nearing the border of lovely sleep. But a ring on the phone she hadn't noticed sitting on the table next to the couch startled her awake. She answered it immediately.

"Hello?" She asked cautiously.

"Hello?" A kind and elder voice answered. "I'm sorry; did I wake you up dear?"

"That's okay, you didn't wake me. May I ask who's calling?" Piper was curious now as she waited for the reply.

"Of course, of course; I'm so sorry. I'm Ms. Chang." Chang paused for recognition and continued when she received none, "I'm the owner of the Paper Lantern dear."

For a moment Piper spaced and then it clicked, "Oh! Right; I'm sorry. I'd completely forgotten about the job! Am I late?"

Ms. Chang's laugh interrupted Piper's anxious words, "No, no, you aren't late. You actually don't start until tomorrow but I was calling to ask you if you'd like to come in a day early. We're quite busy and my niece is sick with the flu so we're a bit short-handed."

Piper sighed with relief, "Oh, yes, of course I'll help!" She said enthusiastically before she yawned silently; boy she was tired!

"Thank you very much. I appreciate it," Ms. Chang was smiling as she spoke; her tone of voice indicated such which in turn caused Piper to smile.

"No problem, I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"All right then. When you get here I'll have someone show you around and help you out on your first day. See you in a few." There was a click as Ms. Chang hung up and the line went dead.

Another sigh escaped Piper's lips as she stood up and stretched slightly before yawning. 'Oh joy,' she thought sarcastically, 'This is going to be a very long day.'

It took all of ten minutes for Piper to grab her keys and the map to the Paper Lantern, lock her door, and follow the directions. She reached the restaurant in five minutes. 'Cool.' She thought absently. As she walked in, she was assaulted by the sweet scent of almond and fortune cookies, fried rice, several different meats, and a sweet scent she couldn't quite put her finger on. It made her mouth water and her stomach growl forcing her mind to remember she hadn't eaten all day.

A little laugh from beside her made her turn to see an older woman around her late forties possibly with chin-length, straight black hair and the kindest brown eyes she'd ever seen. There were defined lines around her mouth that proved she smiled a lot as she was doing at the very moment. She was a short and squat woman that looked almost frail yet healthy. "I assume you're hungry. You may eat a quick bite before you start. Just head through those doors and grab some chicken fried rice for yourself. You can eat dinner later. I'll send someone to fetch you in ten minutes, okay?"

Piper nodded happily and forced herself to calmly walk to the back of the restaurant. When she pushed open the double doors she inhaled and sighed happily before walking over to the chef, "Excuse me, but Ms. Chang said that I…" Her sentence drifted off when she realized the cook didn't understand her and gave her a weird look before continuing to create delicious Cantonese food. So she poked around and saw the chicken fried rice and ate a small plate full.

She'd just finished her plate when the double doors swung inward. She glanced up out of the corner of her eye only to receive a glare from a certain person she'd like to strangle the life out of!

Warren Peace was shocked when he first entered the kitchen and saw a familiar head of platinum blonde hair and a pair of startling green eyes. His shocked expression narrowed into a fierce glare that would have killed her if it were possible. With a satisfied mental smirk, he noticed the gauze wrap that covered her shoulder where he'd burned her earlier sticking out the top of her shirt slightly. 'Good,' he thought, 'Serves her right!'

Even though Warren disliked her with all of his being because she was a snotty little brat, he couldn't deny she was appealing to the eye; it'd be a cold day in hell when he'd admit that aloud though. She wasn't perfect and she definitely stood out with her too-bright hair and those stony eyes that were closed-off from the world. She didn't seem too friendly and he wondered why she let Layla tug her around like they were best pals. But whatever, he didn't care.

"What do you want?" Her voice was calm and yet there was a hint of arrogance underneath it that pissed Warren off in ways he'd never imagined.

His eye twitched slightly, "Watch it or next time I'll filet your ass and make sure even your own mother won't recognize your pretty face." He snarled threateningly as his hand spontaneously combusted into flame.

Her eyes went wide with his sudden lack of sense and she moved so that the doorway was blocked. Luckily the chef took a break to go smoke out back and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you out of your mind? What if someone had walked in here and saw that?!" She hissed before dumping water on his hand to put out the fire.

Warren bit the inside of his mouth when the fire consumed his hand. He could feel his calloused hand begin to grow painfully hot. He cursed mentally as his eyes flew to the door and he tried desperately to kill it. He completely ignored her scathing words and hissed in pain as the cool water doused the flame and felt both horrid and wonderful at the same time. He quickly hid his pain and snatched his hand away from her view to hide the damaged skin; it would repair itself in a few minutes. But he realized he did have a problem now; he was losing control of his powers!

As Warren snatched his hand away and all but growled at her, Piper could see a bit of burned flesh before it disappeared behind his back. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she met his glare with one of her own. "What's the matter with you?" She snapped in a quiet voice.

"Mind your own business." Warren snarled before shoving her out of his way and stalking out the door calling over his shoulder at her, "Come on."

A delicate eyebrow rose in aggravation but she followed him brushing off his attitude. She didn't care about him anyway; what did she care if he was hurt? She learned long ago that if someone didn't want help then don't help them; it would only lead to pain on her part. So she followed him, arms crossed, and her own attitude of indifference in place.

She shadowed Warren for most of the night. A couple of tables she'd been hit on several times and received tips and phone numbers she didn't want. One creepy guy kept staring at her as she walked away from him leaving an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She brushed it off as paranoia and took a table's order with Warren standing over her shoulder nit-picking anything she did wrong. By the end of the night they were tap dancing on each other's last nerve. Ms. Chang saw the tension between the two and finally separated them.

Once away from Warren, Piper had no problems whatsoever and completed several orders perfectly as well as receiving several good tips. She was a pro at feigning happiness and controlling her emotions. She could easily evaporate any foul mood the customer was in and have them smiling by the time their food was at the table.

Three hours later, Piper sat in a booth with her feet crossed Indian style and a plate of sweet and sour chicken in front of her. She ate the meal slowly as she stared blankly out the window. She was so far away in her thoughts that she didn't notice Ms. Chang walk up to her and jumped slightly when the woman spoke to her.

"Piper, dear, do you have someone who will come get you? I noticed you didn't drive here." The old woman smiled with her hands clasped together resting against her stomach.

"No, I don't have a car. But it's okay, I'd rather walk anyways." Piper put on a fake smile to reassure Ms. Chang.

A frown creased Ms. Chang's face. "Do you have someone to walk with you? It's rather dangerous to be walking home alone at this time of night."

"Well no, I don't, but that's okay. I don't mind having to…"

Ms. Chang ignored Piper's excuse and turned her head to call over her shoulder. "Warren, come here please."

"Oh no, please, you don't need to do that Ms. Chang. I'll be fine walking by myself." Piper tried to explain.

"Nonsense," she said with a smile before turning to Warren. "Since your shift is almost over. I'll clock you out at eleven so you can walk Piper home okay? I don't want her getting hurt and I'd feel much better if she was with you."

Warren's eyes narrowed at Piper in an accusing glare but he knew he didn't really have a choice; Ms. Chang wasn't asking, she was telling. "Of course Ms. Chang," Warren said calmly through gritted teeth.

"Good," she clapped her hands together ignoring the glaring contest the two teens had broke into. She disappeared into the back room speaking rapidly in Chinese to one of the waiters.

With a sigh Piper finished her food and threw away the box before standing up. Warren glared at her from the door as though she were making him late to get home. 'How do I get myself into this shit? I should've just lied to the old woman!' She growled mentally as she stalked over to the door. She just reached it as Warren was leaving and had to throw her hand out to keep it from smacking her in the face, "Asshole." She hissed at him.

He smirked back at her, "Thanks." The moon made the single red streak in his hair cast a reddened glow on his dark brown hair and his chocolate brown eyes sparkled. Piper had to resist the urge to blush but she couldn't stop the shivers that tingled in her spine.

They walked in an uncomfortable silence. Why was it taking so long to get to her house, she wondered. It seemed to take forever to get to the crossroads that were a block away from her apartment complex. "You don't have to walk me home, I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself." She said monotonously.

He scoffed at her and gave her an arrogant look as he spoke, "I wasn't. It just so happens that my house is this way. I figured you were following me, not that I blame you." A smirk lit his conceited features.

Disbelief cluttered her mind and she rolled her eyes. "Hello tall, dark, and arrogant. You're as handsome as a pig and about as smart as one too, but I wouldn't want to insult the pig." With a smirk, she flipped him the bird and disappeared from his sight.

Warren snarled at her but she was already gone. He growled to himself and stalked home angrily. He entered his house quietly so as not to wake his mother who was most likely sleeping. As quiet as a mouse, he walked up the stairs to his room and closed the door before turning on the light. He shrugged out of his shirt and threw it into a dirty hamper that was nearing the top; contrary to popular belief, Warren did own more than a few shirts and he took a shower every night because he liked to be clean!

He stepped into the shower and pulled his worn out jeans off letting them fall on the floor next to a pile of clean clothes. He shook his head slightly and turned around to face his shower. As he leant down to turn on the faucet, a flame sprouted on his arm and he hissed in pain before jerking the cold water on and dousing the flames. He scowled at the melting skin on his arm and winced as it slowly began to heal itself; thank God he was gifted with his mother's power as well.

His gaze trailed over his arm intently as if the sudden manifestation of his enraged powers could be seen. A couple weeks after his junior year had come to an end, his powers had started going haywire. The fire, which he could easily wield without harming himself, began to burn hotter and soon his skin would blaze from the heat and cause him terrible pain. It was only a little at first though, now it was starting to kick up and he was beginning to realize that his power was overpowering him. He could no longer control it at will as he used to. This scared him in a way he'd never been before. He was used to chaos; but his powers had always been under his control. They were the one thing he was certain of and now he was finding even the simplest of flames painful and searing with its heat.

With a sigh, he turned the cold water back on and stripped his boxers off before stepping into the shower. As the icy water hit his body, it turned to steam and soon the bathroom was filled with a hazy mist. Warren forced his body temperature lower so he could shower. The cold felt good against his skin as he cleaned himself; it renewed him.

After a long, pleasant shower, Warren pulled on a clean pair of boxers and fell into his bed. He pulled the comforter over him and closed his eyes; he was asleep instantly.

Piper appeared inside of her decent-sized apartment. She crossed her arms as her eyes furrowed in anger and loathing. "Oh I cannot stand him!" She snarled to herself before pacing the floor to her room and stripped her clothes off her body. She marched into the adjoining bathroom and turned on the hot water. She waited until steam began to rise off the floor and into the air before settling herself in.

The water burned her skin and she hissed slightly in pain though she didn't move. Her skin reddened with the heat and she began to calm down as she lathered her heated skin with a rag and rinsed. She shampooed and conditioned her hair thoroughly before rinsing it and stepping out. The knobs spun to the off position and she looked at the shower with narrowed eyes.

She used her towel to wipe the mirror clear of condensation and glared. Her own body was not reflected, but one that seemed a replica of her. The body was a deep purple and the eyes were pure white. The lips reflected silver and her reflection smiled devilishly at her. "Alvara," Piper snarled.

The reflection smiled at her mockingly, "Hello my dear." The voice was melodic and entrancing, but Piper was used to this tact and so ignored it.

"What do you want?" Piper growled at the manifestation.

Alvara scowled, "You're no fun." She teased before her blurred face became serious. "The pyrokinetic is growing unstable. I do not think it is safe to be around him."

Piper's face screwed up in concentration as she tried to think what Alvara meant. It clicked easily, "You mean that arrogant bastard Warren?"

A chuckle resounded and a ghostly caress of a hand on her face made Piper flinch. "You must be wary. His power grows unstable and he grows more feral with every passing day... He is much like you when your powers first manifested and woke your inner being."

"More like inner irritation." Piper growled, annoyed at Alvara.

The apparition chuckled delicately and smiled. "Piper, there is another reason we are here." Her face was suddenly serious losing all humor in an instant.

Eyes narrowed together in a frown, Piper glared into the mirror. "Oh really? What, pray tell, is that?"

Alvara smiled mysteriously before her own eyes narrowed and looked to the door. "Someone is here."

Piper's head snapped to the side and she hit the light switch instantly. She quickly wrapped the towel around her body before she crept out of the bathroom and towards the living room as quietly as possible. No one was there but the uneasy feeling of being watched didn't leave her for a moment. Then she heard a creak in the wooden floor and jumped over the couch landing in a crouch before turning to face her attacker with a well-aimed roundhouse kick.

Her attacker caught her foot and pushed it aside. The fact that it was pitch black in the house, now that it was night, didn't help Piper at all. She sprang up and backwards feeling for the wall when she suddenly hit a hard, masculine body and two arms wrapped around her. She struggled for a moment before she teleported into the kitchen and staggered into the island stove knocking a few pots and pans from the overhanging wrack. They were sent skittering to the floor with loud clangs and bangs causing Piper to stumble over them and smash her hip into the table. She grunted with pain; that would leave a mark.

An iron fist closed over Piper's wrist and whipped her backwards. She curled her free hand into a fist and punched the assailant in the gut as she tried to wrench her hand free. The guy grunted and then caught her fist in his own and yanked her against his body before trapping her there. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to kill me." His gruff voice whispered into her ear as his whiskered cheek rubbed against her own smooth one.

She gasped slightly and stopped struggling. "Hunter?" She asked softly. A soft chuckle was her only reply before his lips pressed against hers. She didn't move for a second and then suddenly the familiar scent of earth and woods filled her nostrils and she returned his kiss with full vigor. His arms that had trapped her against him unwound slightly and slid down to her hips as he backed her to the table once more. When her butt hit, he lifted her up and set her down upon it; their lips never breaking contact with the other.

Hunter finally pulled away from her lips to give her breath before the light switch flipped up to the on position and he looked down at Piper. He smirked upon seeing her clothing, or lack-thereof and pulled the towel tighter around her body. His hands trailed over her shoulders and they faded from the kitchen. They faded back into Piper's room and he went to her dresser. He opened the top drawer and raised an eyebrow at her before waving his hand over her unpacked bags. The clothes appeared, neatly folded, into the drawers and the bags were put away in the closet. He casually grabbed a matching black spaghetti strap top and shorts and a bra and underwear. He turned to her and held the clothing out to her. When she made a move to walk towards him he glared, "No, use your power."

With a sigh Piper returned to a stance and concentrated on the clothing in his hand. They shivered a bit but otherwise nothing happened, "I can't."

"Yes, you can. Now concentrate and try harder." Hunter commanded.

Her eyes narrowed at him before she sighed and turned her glare upon the clothing. He held his hand open and she concentrated hard enough for her mind to twinge painfully. Her vision blurred slightly and she felt dizzy but just as she felt as though she'd black out, she felt the cloth touch her hand. Then, all was black.

Hunter was beside her instantly and caught her deftly before lifting her to the bed. He made a noise of disappointment before waving his hands over her towel-covered body. The towel vanished and appeared in the dirty clothes hamper and the clothes were transported on her. He then waved a hand over his own body and he was dressed in night clothes. He slid into bed with Piper and smirked as she curled instinctively to him.

The next day around noon, Piper woke up with a staggered yawn. She first realized that she was very comfortable and warm. Next, that her head was not lying on the most comfortable pillow in the world but a rather bulky and muscular chest that was rising and falling with every breath its owner took. She also discovered that two strong iron bands for arms were wrapped around her so securely she couldn't move from her resting place. For a moment she panicked until the familiar earth and woodsy scent reached her and a deep chuckle resonated from the body beneath her. She blinked wearily and looked straight into Hunter's unsettling silver eyes before giving his a light smile. His lips descended hungrily on her own as he flipped them over so he was pinning her down. She grunted in surprise and turned her head away to catch some air. She didn't get much time as he forced her to face him with his hand on her chin and attacked her lips once more fiercely. His hands encircled her slightly flared hips and his mouth trailed down her delicate throat to her collarbone nipping roughly causing her to start. "Hunter, what're you doing here?" She managed.

He stopped for a moment giving her a slight relief, "What does it look like love?" He bit her neck gently before lathering it with his tongue and sliding his hand up from her waist across her chest to wrap securely around her throat dominating and possessing every part of her. She stilled beneath him and felt the familiar feeling of fear streak through her even as tingles slid up her spine.

"No I mean, why are you here? How did you find me? I thought you were trying to infiltrate the Knights?" She asked evading his lips once more by flashing herself to the end of the bed.

He turned to look at her with a knowing smirk as he propped his chin up with a fist. "Things were getting a little too tense for my tastes so I told them I was taking some time off. I've already penetrated their outer defenses, now I'm rising through the ranks." He said nonchalantly as though they were discussing the weather and not the syndicate that was out to get her at all costs.

"So you took a vacation? Won't that make them suspicious?" She snapped irritably.

Hunter smirked and crawled to her before pulling her into his arms and kissing her lips and cheeks gently as though she were a piece of china ready to shatter if she were handled roughly. "They told me to take some time off, love. They would get suspicious if I didn't do as they ordered." He said complacently.

With a sigh Piper nodded to him and gave him a shy kiss back. She then stretched largely and smiled up at him, "So what's on the agenda for today?" She asked him already guessing what he was thinking.

He smiled mischievously before dumping her none-too-gently on the bed allowing her to bounce into the air. "Training of course; now that you've got some hold on your telekinetic powers, you need to practice with them." He dug through her drawers and pulled out a black and green work-out suit. "First we run," he said throwing the suit to her "Then we exercise your mental capacity to its limit."

She groaned and quickly divested herself of her clothes after turning her back on him. She pulled on the suit and allowed him to pull her into his arms and carry her bridal-style through the living room, pausing idly to transport her running shoes on her feet, and out the front door. He kissed her thoroughly before setting her down and locking the door with a flick of his hands. "Let's go babe." He gave her a swat on the behind and led her down the stairs into the brisk morning and onto the sidewalk where they began a long ten-mile run around the neighborhood.

Around this time, a very sleepy Warren was rousing. He kicked his quilt off and stumbled out of bed. He ran his hands through his hair before pulling on a pair of black and red basketball shorts and a shirt that had the sides ripped down almost to the end. He pulled on some tennis shoes and walked downstairs to make himself some breakfast.

Two melted cups, a shattered plate, and a slightly charred egg with toast later; Warren scowled and threw the ruined dishware into the garbage. His hand was burning and he watched as the skin quickly mended the charred flesh. He growled angrily and resisted the urge to punch his fist through the wall; his mother wouldn't like that very much. He glanced at the clock and sighed; it was only two thirty. He grabbed the remote and sat down in front of the television. He fell asleep twenty minutes into it.

(For the sake of not boring you guys to death, I'm going to jump three days from this point because all that happens is Piper gets her ass whipped both physically and mentally by Hunter as he's 'training' her. Warren is just irritated but doesn't work until Friday. So now, Friday. Thanks!)

Piper woke up sore and in pain. She was sweating profusely from some nightmare that she couldn't remember. The burned skin on her shoulder was healing nicely but still hurt sometimes. She wouldn't have a scar luckily. She'd had to lie to Hunter when he asked what happened and he finally believed her story about being burned during Save the Citizen by jumping in front of her partner to protect her after an hour or so of growling and arguing with him.

Surprisingly, he wasn't there when she woke. But she found a note taped to her TV and sighed reading it. He said he'd be back by nightfall; that he had to scout around the area and make sure it was safe for her. She rolled her eyes and threw the note in the garbage. She looked at the time and stretched with a yawn; 2:00 P.M. She'd been through quite one hell of a week with him. But at least now she could use her telekinesis a little better. She didn't black out anymore; a major bonus. She could even control her blasting power.

She made herself some cereal and sighed as she looked at the clock, thirty minutes till she had to be at the Paper Lanturn and had to deal with that pyro idiot again. She cleaned her dish, took a quick hot shower, dressed, and exited the apartment within the span of twenty minutes leaving her ten to get to work. She'd even left Hunter a note telling him where she'd be.

It didn't take long for her to reach the restaurant and she was happy to see that Warren wasn't there and hopefully wouldn't be for the rest of the day because he caught something nasty like the flu or something. She got to work and happily took and dished out orders for an hour before she heard the bell 'ting' gently signaling the end to a perfect day and the beginning of a horrible afternoon and evening. Warren stomped through the door just as rain began to fall and dark clouds began to roll in with the breeze.

He ignored Piper-which made her happy-and began to clean off tables and take out the trash and other things. She managed to keep herself away from him except for a couple incidents that she cleverly maneuvered her way out of.

Near the end of the day, around 10 o'clock, Piper's bad day just got worse. She looked up as the bell jingled to tell the person they were closed when she saw who it was. Hunter was staring at her with a slightly miffed expression and she could see he was terribly close to growling at her; she rolled her eyes and excused herself to Ms. Chang to reach him. When she was within an arm's length of him, his hand snaked out and snatched her close with a painful iron grip on her upper arm. "What's the matter with you?" He hissed.

Piper blinked a couple of times and took a few moments to reel in her shock before glaring at his display of arrogant dominance and self-righteousness. "Excuse me?"

"Why did you leave without telling me? I searched all over for you until I see you in here." He growled letting his hand to rest upon her throat possessively.

She growled at him and tried to pull away, "I left you a bloody note, now let go so I can finish up."

Hunter snarled at her and ripped the half-apron off her and tossing it onto a booth. "Tell them you're leaving."

To keep herself from being dragged away she dug her heels into the ground and grabbed onto a booth seat while she wrested herself from his iron grip. "How dare you order me around like some drill instructor!" She hissed in panic seeing that Ms. Chang and a few of the other workers were staring at her strangely. "Um, Ms. Chang, would you mind if I left now, I need to get home."

Ms. Chang, bless her, didn't like the way Hunter was standing so dominantly over the girl she immediately grew to love as a daughter in the span of five days. She narrowed her eyes on the man and saw him smirk cruelly at her. "Yes dear, but can you come here and answer a question for me, it will only take a moment." She watched as Piper jerked herself free and walked the short distance to her. Before she could speak, Ms. Chang whispered, "Are you all right dear? Should I call the police?" She asked while staring concernedly up at the girl.

Piper felt her heart constrict as the elderly woman looked over her lovingly before casting a scathing look towards Hunter. She blinked away some tears and shook her head, "I'm just fine Ms. Chang. He doesn't mean any harm; he just doesn't like me out alone this late at night." She said reassuringly before turning on her heel. She saw Warren staring at her from the corner of her eye and stirred slightly with irritation. Hunter must've noticed Warren and didn't like him because as soon as Piper reached him, his arms curled roughly around her. She was plastered to his body a little uncomfortably as he claimed her lips viciously and then yanking her outside into the pouring rain without giving her a chance to recover. He teleported them back to her apartment.

Warren had watched the display of dominance and possession with disgust. He didn't understand how Piper could stand someone like that. He then shook himself mentally for even caring as he turned in his own apron and walked home alone, in the rain.

* * *

Well I hope you guys liked that one.

Please review and tell me what you liked and you can guess about what you think is going to happen or you can tell me what you want. Just do whatever, hah. No flames please, I will ignore them; as always. Constructive criticism is always welcomed and if you don't like my pairing, or my girl, or just my damn story, too fucking bad. I don't care.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate it.

For those of you who review my stories, thank you very much!

Ciao,

_Shadowed Replica_


	3. Chapter 3

**Just the Girl**

Chapter III: Uncontrolled

_By: Shadowed Replica_

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_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Sky High or any of it's original characters. So me no own, you no sue! (Piper Wells is mine though!)_

**Full Summary:** Warren has been having some trouble with his powers lately, they're out of control and now even he can feel their burn. She was being followed by the adversary of her heritage since birth; never a moment of peace. They'd both been attracted to dangerous, forbidden things. Perhaps that is why they were drawn to each other. He was her salvation and only light within the darkness; even if she refused to accept it. She was his only chance to find love and hope for some normality; though he'd never admit it.

* * *

Regular Narration

"Speech."

'Thought.'

_Dream/Song_ (You'll know the difference)

**Flashback**

_**Change in time, etc.**_

(Interruption)

* * *

Monday morning was a blast, in sarcastic terms of course. Piper woke up with a splitting headache and groaned as she tried to move her aching muscles. She tried, for a moment, to remember where the weekend had gone before slamming her face back into the pillows. Absently, she wondered where Hunter was until her arm curled around her side causing her to hiss and recoil in pain.

Hunter chuckled before he moved over her and kissed her lips. "If you'd learned to fight better, you wouldn't be so sore." He laughed when Piper elbowed him off her and trying to act dignified as she moved to stand but face-planted on the floor when the sheets caught her feet.

"Well how about I kick you in the balls and then teleport all around your ass hitting and kicking you. You wouldn't like that, now would you?" She snarled while ripping her feet free and moving to the closet to pull out a soccer shirt and a pair of ripped, dark, blue jeans. She combed out her semi-wet hair and let it fall slightly wavy and sighed. She pulled a couple of hair ties onto her wrist before turning to face Hunter's bemused expression.

"What?" He asked with feigned innocence.

"Get out so I can dress." She said firmly while crossing her arms over her chest.

He laughed mockingly before vanishing from before her eyes. She looked around warily before shedding the large tee-shirt and short shorts and pulling on a new pair of underwear before the jeans followed. She pulled on a sports bra and then the soccer shirt. A new pair of socks followed soon after and she walked out of her bedroom to be stopped by Hunter. In one hand he held her Nike shocks and the other a bowl of sugared strawberries. She smiled at him and kissed his cheek.

It took her all of ten minutes to put her shoes on and finish the strawberries. She searched for her bag for five minutes before remembering she left it in the locker at Sky High. With a sigh she moved towards the door when Hunter put a hand on her shoulder. "Where are you going babe?"

"School, duh." She answered tartly.

He chuckled again-which was really starting to piss her off-and pulled her flush against his body. He pressed his lips to her and she felt a weird sensation. Her entire body felt light and heavy at the same time. She groaned as her head began to spin and lights flashed behind her eyelids almost painfully. After a few moments, it stopped and her feet touched the ground lightly; but her knees still buckled and Hunter had to catch her. "Glad to know I still make you weak in the knees love."

With a scoff, Piper shoved him away from her and rolled her eyes while she staggered slightly. "You know I hate it when you do that! I hate shimmering from place to place. I don't know how you do it." She hissed at him as he stalked her movements away from him. "Now go away so I can go to school."

He caught her deftly around the waist and snatched her back against his body. "What, no goodbye kiss?" He gave a mock hurt look before capturing her lips dominantly and bending her over ignoring the crowd of supers that were openly gaping at them. He finally pulled back and released her, "Bye babe. You'll have to find your own way home; I've got shit to do." With that, he shimmered with a smirk and a wave.

Piper growled and whipped around to find him gone. "Asshole," she muttered before turning to find a hell of a lot of people staring at her. For a moment she turned red and then her temper flared, "What the hell are you staring at?" She growled before she flipped them the bird and envisioned her locker from the outside.

She was there and put her hand out to steady herself on the lockers. When she regained her equilibrium, she took a step back to locate her locker. She finally did so and moved to put her hand on the dial to open it. But before her hand could settle on the tiny black dial, it began to spin violently and she looked at it with a confused expression. It was spinning faster and faster with every passing moment. She stepped back when it started smoking from the friction caused by the speed. She was on the other side of the hallway by now when suddenly the spinning stopped and the dial liquefied. The liquid moved in mid-air towards her and hovered before her.

It took Piper a moment before she put a hand out to touch the cool liquid and then retracted her hand. "What the hell?" She murmured before looking to her locker and groaning; how the hell was she supposed to get her stuff if she couldn't open it? She bit her lip and looked at the liquid and back to the locker, "Well either I'm going crazy or this will work." She muttered before picturing the liquid floating back to the locker and she imagined it solidifying back into a dial lock. When she opened her eyes the dial was back on the locker perfectly. Okay, not so perfectly; when she reached the dial and went to put in the combination, she realized that there were no numbers and it was a plain dial. "You have got to be kidding me." She hissed before sighing and touching her finger to the dial. She closed her eyes and felt it liquefy beneath her fingers and she reformed it once again only this time with numbers and little nick marks that showed the other numbers. She then placed it in line with the actual combination before reattaching it to the locker.

She sighed and turned the dial putting her com in when a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder causing her to shriek and jump backwards. She growled when she realized Layla was the cause of her scare. "Layla," Piper hissed while yanking her locker open to grab books for Medulla's class.

"Sorry Piper, I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to say hi and welcome you back. We missed you at the lunch table." Layla said with a bright smile flicking her long red hair back over her shoulder.

Piper rolled her eyes before giving Layla a wry smile. "S' fine."

"So who was that guy out there with you?" She asked.

Piper made a face and closed her eyes, turning her head to the side slightly; she was hoping no one important saw that. Not that Layla was important or anything. With a sigh she looked at the greenery girl and continued walking. "He's no one okay?"

"But Piper he…"

"Just drop it okay?" Piper snarled before stalking off towards Medulla's class. She arrived a little early and slammed her stuff down on the table causing Warren to glance at her. "What do you want?" She growled ferally before sitting down and opening the book and notes.

"You do know we have a lab today right?" Warren sneered from behind his book.

A twitch formed in Piper's right eye and she could feel power swirling in her body. The demon inside of her clawed at the edges of her control but she successfully leashed her anger and closed her book and notebook without incident; though a few desks in the room stuttered on the floor for a moment before lying still.

About an hour into the lab, Warren and Piper were tap dancing on each other's last nerve. Piper would label one slide, Warren would check it and label it another; they'd argue for a moment before Medulla would step in and break it up by telling which person was correct. So far the score stands Warren: 4, Piper: 3.

Halfway into the next slide, Piper sat back and pushed the microscope towards Warren, "Go ahead, how about you decide what this one is smart ass." She said with barely contained contempt.

"I will, correctly." Warren snapped before pressing his eye to the eyepiece. He sat there for a moment before he pulled back, looked at Piper, and then looked back into the microscope. "What are you doing?" He asked bewildered.

"What are you talking about?" Piper growled.

Warren slid the scope over to her to let her take a look. When she did she sat up straight and took a deep breath before looking through the eyepiece again. The supposedly dead cells were moving around as though alive. She swallowed a lump in her throat and forced the cells to return to their original places. But as she did so, something amazing happened. Not only did the cells immediately do what she commanded mentally, but she began to see the mechanisms and processes of the human anatomy. She could understand what they did just by looking at them. She formed the torn and misplaced cells together to make a whole tissue. When she was finished, she smirked and sat back in her chair. "There's nothing wrong with it."

For a moment, Warren stared at her like she was stupid before taking a look into the scope. He gaped for a moment and then glared at her. "What the hell did you do?"

Before Piper could reply, Medulla stepped in, "Now what you imbeciles?" Medulla stepped in front of the microscope and Piper bit her lip worriedly as he peered into the eyepiece. "What is this?" He asked pulling his face away to look at the two partners. "You're supposed to be looking at damaged and diseased cells. "Where did this slide come from?"

By now, the whole class was watching Medulla, Piper, and Warren. "She changed it." Warren said.

"No I didn't!" Piper growled whilst glaring daggers at Warren.

"She couldn't possibly have been able to. I have the only key to the cabinet and would have noticed because I was standing in front of it most of the time." Medulla snapped.

"I didn't mean she switched slides, I mean she used her powers to change it." Warren retorted irritably.

Medulla looked to Piper for a moment, "Is this true?"

"I… well, yeah. But it was an accident," Piper started.

"An accident that you reformed almost two billion diseased cells and created a human tissue, albeit rather small," Medulla questioned.

"Well they started moving on their own first and then I kind of just directed them." Piper said while crossing her arms.

"Interesting," Medulla murmured. "If you can do that, then…" He trailed off just as the bell rang. Everyone waited for Medulla to bark out some orders for homework. "Everyone is dismissed, leave now." He said instead.

Not wanting to wait for him to change his mind, everyone hurried out as quickly as possible. But just as Piper was about to exit he called her back, "Ms. Wells, come here."

Piper stopped mid-step out the door and turned her head slightly, "Um, okay…" She said before turning on her heel to re-enter the classroom she had almost escaped. When she was in front of Medulla she gazed at him curiously and impatiently. She had better things to do than watch him… what is he doing?

Medulla began to circle her looking at her. He stopped when he reached his original starting place and disappeared, "Wait here," into his office for a moment. He reappeared about five minutes later with a large, uneven chunk of copper. "Tell, what's the first thing that comes to mind?" He asked excitedly.

Not wanting to disappoint him, or rather make him angry so he'd start shouting again, Piper bit her lip and tried to grasp for an answer. Unfortunately, she ended up with zilch. "I'm not sure exactly."

"Come, come, you cannot tell me you have no idea what you can do with this?" He asked while crossing his arms and tapping his finger against his elbow.

"Not really," she replied.

He sighed, "Look at it, what can it be used for."

"Scrap?"

"No! Ms. Wells, please try to use your brain. I want you to flatten it." He snapped. With a raised eyebrow, Piper looked around for a hammer and grabbed one. When she raised the hammer to hit the copper with, Medulla shouted, "NO!"

"What?! How the hell am I supposed to do it if not with a hammer." She asked incredulously.

"Use your powers you imbecile!" Medulla growled out.

"Oh," she murmured lamely. "I'm not sure if I can do that…"

"Try," he commanded.

With an audible sigh, she focused her mind on the copper ball. It shivered slightly and she tried to meld her mind around the concept of flattening the object. For a moment, all the ball did was tremble violently then stop. She tried again and focused harder, every moment that passed made her angrier when suddenly the copper ball exploded and both Piper and Medulla were forced to duck for cover. "I told you I couldn't do it."

Bit and pieces, fragments of copper were scattered all over the room. "You blew it up, not what I asked you to do. Put it back together and try again." Medulla commanded.

"What? You've got to be kidding me!" She hissed.

"I don't kid," he growled.

Her eye twitched in anger and she turned to see copper all over the room and floor. She put a hand over her face and groaned. She then closed her eyes to locate every object she could with her mind's eye before opening them. "Here goes nothing," she whispered. She raised her hands and, miraculously, every piece of destroyed copper floated in the air level with her hands, "Cool." She then brought her hands together and the pieces began to meld back together. "This is so amazing." The once uneven copper ball now appeared floated in mid-air as a perfectly round and symmetrical copper ball. She brought the ball over to her and set it on the desk.

Medulla was smirking when she looked up and she rolled her eyes, "Now, flatten it into a disk shape."

She bit her lip and looked at the copper. She pictured a copper disk in her mind's eye and then held her hand over the ball. She pushed her hand down until it was touching the copper ball and would go no further; nothing happened. "Nothing's happening."

"Hm," Medulla muttered before putting a hand to his chin as he pondered. "Of course, I want you to picture each molecule, each atom of the copper sliding against each other until they reach the desired form." He directed.

With a hopeful breath, Piper's eyes fluttered shut and she imagined a trillion, zillion atoms working together to unshape the sphere. She peeked through her eyelashes and gasped. The copper was slowly 'melting' into a disk. "Wow," she murmured as the copper sphere flattened into a perfect disk.

He looked quite pleased with her work and then he picked up the disk. "Good, now, let's see it fly." He chucked the disk at the wall.

His actions startled her slightly but she immediately went to work and focused on the disk that was flying through the air. It took a moment but suddenly the disk wobbled in its flight and then stopped though it continued to rotate on a central axis. She took it a step further and brought the disk over to her and it began to expand, thinner and larger. Then it moved low, a few inches above the ground and she put one foot on it. Her second foot followed and she was standing shakily on the disk. "This is cool."

Medulla smirked, "Very good, move around the room." He gestured by jerking his chin towards the end of the room.

She wobbled a moment and then the disk began to rise in the air. She wasn't paying attention and suddenly her head smacked into the ceiling, "Ow!" She growled and pushed herself away from it while rubbing a small bump on her head, "Bloody hell." Then, while ignoring Medulla's annoyed grunts, she began to soar over the tables and chairs in the room. "This is so awesome."

Medulla glanced at the clock and did a double-take, "Ms. Wells." He called.

This effectively broke Piper's concentration and the disk dropped onto a table and flipped off, hit a chair and landed safely on the floor. Piper's body followed and she crashed into the table with a painful 'smack' and she bounced off that into a chair before falling to the ground and giving a small cry of pain. "Ow, damn it!"

He shook his head at her, "Learn to keep your concentration Ms. Wells, and you will do great things." He then pointed to the clock, "I believe it is time for you to attend lunch and we will resume next week at the same time." He said matter-of-factly before disappearing into the back of his office.

Piper stood up burning with anger; how dare he leave her there on the floor after she'd fallen so hard and painful to the ground. What if she'd broken something? 'I'll get him,' she thought viciously before taking a shaky step. She stumbled and then made her way to the lunch room clutching her injured hand to her stomach. She would try to avoid Layla and the others at all costs. She probably shouldn't go to the lunchroom then, but alas, she already entered.

Layla was most persistent in her search for her new friend and was thusly rewarded in finding Piper hiding out behind a tall column in the lunchroom. "Come on Piper, sit with us." She commanded more than asked as she wrapped her small yet shockingly strong hand around Piper's upper arm and tugged her to the table where everyone was sitting.

Unfortunately, _everyone_ was sitting there, including a certain asshole she'd like to avoid. But she sat, by almost sheer force from Layla. So with a bit of aggravation, Piper sat across from Warren. Her fingers began to tap an irritated tune as she waited out lunch. There was power surging through her body like she'd never experienced before with the exception of the time she almost died four years ago.

Lunch seemed to take an eternity as Piper sat there almost unmoving except for the steady _tap, tap, tap_ of her fingertips on the plastic table top. Finally, the bell for lunch's end rang and Piper was up so fast Layla started in surprise as the girl almost ran past.

By now, Piper was to the bursting point. She felt as a boat that was filling up with water faster than she could bail out and she was very near sinking in her own power surge. She fought it all the way into the gym for Save the Citizen.

She was forced to watch two battles where Will was teamed up with some electrical guy that was killing it with these nearly uncontrolled outbursts of electrically charged attacks that included both short, mid, and long range.

The second battle Will faced off against Layla and he struggled against her for a moment before just plowing through her plants with his super strength and saving the Citizen. The other opponent was some ice power chick that kept throwing icicles at the electric guy and he got stuck a couple times before she was zapped out.

It was the third battle when Will called Warren down to be a villain and the electric guy called Piper down as the other. She was changed and ready to go in an instant. When Coach Boomer sounded the whistle for their time, Piper dodged an electric attack. She continued to dodge until she had her back to the citizen. She growled and tried to freeze the guy but accidentally threw him backwards.

She was hit from behind by Will and sent sprawling across the floor. Apparently, the electric guy, his name-she later discovered-was Mick, had hit Warren and they fell into a tussle. Piper was a bit stunned from the hit when she noticed Will going for the Citizen. Piper growled and jumped up to her feet. She turned to a pole that was standing a few feet away and uprooted it. She then smacked Will hard enough to send him careening out of control into the safety-glass wall.

With a satisfied smirk, she started to walk towards Will. A shout of warning that sounded a bit like Layla stopped her strut. Abruptly, an acute spike of pain centered on the small of her back and traveled up her spine. Her mouth opened in a silent scream and she couldn't hear anything as her entire body jerked and twitched as a violent electric current traveled through her body and up her spinal cord.

The scream that erupted from her throat was unlike any ever heard by the students. It was one of complete agony; a creature being tortured viciously without mercy. She was screaming so long and loud she couldn't hear herself.

Even after Mick stopped his surge the pain lingered. It grew every second with such a monumental intensity that she could see nothing and hear nothing. Everything was so unbearable that suddenly she couldn't feel pain anymore. It just suddenly disappeared and she went blank. Her body sort of flickered in an out as though she tried to teleport but failed.

Suddenly, a burst of power surged through her and she could feel it clawing at her control; overpowering her and sinking its demonic claws into her conscious state of mind. All the anger built up from over the past few years. All the fear, hurt, pain, depression, and loneliness was cresting into a wave of uncontrollable power. And then, everything went dark and her conscious mind shut down. She fell to her knees and then face down on the floor.

The entire gym was silent as they watched the electric current zing through Piper's prone body continuously. When it finally died, they still remained deathly quiet. Only Will seemed unaffected and took a cautious step towards her, "Piper, are you okay?"

He stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder. He was able to turn her over onto her back and he swallowed a lump that formed in his throat. She was deathly pale and her skin almost completely translucent. Just as he went to check for a pulse, her eyes snapped open to reveal a nothing but white; a kind of light that emanated from her eyes.

Will went soaring backwards over the safety glass wall that protected the student and hit the gymnasium wall hard enough to crack it and bust through. She made it to one knee when she was suddenly floating in mid-air. Her hair was slightly fluttering about her and she turned to Mick. He took an involuntary step back as she smirked cruelly.

There was a fake phone booth and a bench in between Piper and Mick. They suddenly disintegrated into nothing; as her power seemed to drift towards him, the bench seemed to materialize and then vanish right before everyone's eyes.

Mick turned on his heel and began to run but she waved a hand at him and he tripped falling flat on his chest. He turned on his back and tried to scoot away as the floorboards disappeared not a few feet from him. Just before he could be disintegrated by Piper's power, Warren stepped up and tossed a large fireball at her.

The ball of fire hit her in the side sending her flying into the wall. She cried out in anger before she turned viciously on him. Half of her suit was burned away revealing deliciously tanned flesh that was burned pretty badly in a central area around her hip. She took two more fireballs-one to the chest and the other to her right thigh-until she got irritated. The third one stopped inches from her face and disintegrated into nothing.

Her eyes narrowed and a voice that was not her own spoke from her mouth, "Foolish boy." Warren went flying backwards and was pinned against the safety glass wall. His skin began to rapidly disintegrate before healing and then starting all over again. This seemed to continue onwards with only half her focus on trying to kill Warren and the other half on tossing away the teachers and students brave enough to try and stop her.

But when Warren was able to throw another fireball at her she ignored them and focused her power on him. He yelled in pain as his shirt was dematerialized and his skin was shredded from his body only to be replaced almost instantaneously.

She was walking towards him now, "Why won't you die?" She hissed at him. Just before she reached him, something hit her across the back of the head and an electric current struck her along with a freeze ray from Medulla.

A terrible scream wrenched from her throat and suddenly all was silent and she froze. Her glowing white eyes returned back to their green color though she still floated in the air. For a moment, time seemed to stop as she regained her wits and her eyes locked onto Warren, "No." She whispered, "No." She screamed. She recoiled from him and Mick hit her with another electric surge thinking she was going to attack them again.

She didn't scream this time; she simply fell to the ground and didn't move. Layla, afraid Mick had killed her, ran to Piper's side and felt for a pulse; she found one. "Oh Piper." She murmured.

Everyone was staring in fear and wonder at the unmoving body of Piper on the floor and at Warren who was kneeling on the ground a couple feet away wincing with pain. The look on his face was unintelligible. His whole body was tense and he seemed afire though his power wasn't active at the moment.

Something had passed between them in that single moment when she had regained control. It was a flickering glance, but he saw it nonetheless and it stunned him.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And to my flamer, thanks. I've never enjoyed hitting the delete button that much and just smiling as I read your rediculous jealous, bull shit.

So thank for showing me that there are still haters out there. Don't worry though, I'm still going to be a nice person and only say this:

Hating is a serious disease; get well soon. :]

To all of you who enjoy my stories, please continue on and I apologize for not getting this one out sooner. College takes a lot out of you.

As always,

_Shadowed Replica_


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